Changes in Ireland’s XV to face England
Coach Andy Farrell has made five changes to the Irish team that will face England on Saturday. Jack Crowley will take over the fly-half position, while Sam Prendergast was not included in the team for the match. In addition to Crowley, the quartet from the British & Irish Lions, Jamison Gibson-Park, Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne and Josh van der Flier, will also be starters. Farrell has opted for a five-three split on the bench, with the return of Finlay Bealham, Ciaran Frawley and Tommy O’Brien. However, Prendergast, Edwin Edogbo and Cormac Izuchukwu were not selected for the matchday squad. Prendergast struggled in the victory over Italy (20-13) last weekend, including misses on two simple conversions, before being replaced by Crowley. The 23-year-old player started in all but one of Ireland’s previous seven Six Nations matches. This is the first time he has been excluded from a 23-player squad in the championship since his debut in November 2024. Crowley impressed from the bench against the Azzurri, although he missed a touch kick at the end of the match, which prevented Farrell’s team from getting a bonus point.
Following Ireland’s recent success against the Italians, coach Farrell lashed out at the “keyboard warriors” who attacked both Prendergast and Crowley on social media.
Ciaran Frawley, who hasn’t played at international level since the 106-7 victory over Portugal last summer, will be the substitute at fly-half in Twickenham. Scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park is called up again to partner with Crowley, in the only other modification in Ireland’s backs line. In three changes to the forwards pack, Furlong replaces Thomas Clarkson at tighthead prop, while Beirne and Van der Flier come in for Izuchukwu and Jack Conan in the back row.- The analysis of the rankings: How much does England drop?
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Ireland Team: J Osborne (Leinster); R Baloucoune (Ulster), G Ringrose (Leinster), S McCloskey (Ulster), J Lowe (Leinster); J Crowley (Munster), J Gibson-Park (Leinster); J Loughman (Munster), D Sheehan (Leinster), T Furlong (Leinster), J McCarthy (Leinster), J Ryan (Leinster), T Beirne (Munster), J Van der Flier (Leinster), C Doris (Leinster capt).Substitutes: R Kelleher (Leinster), T O’Toole (Ulster), F Bealham (Connacht), N Timoney (Ulster), J Conan (Leinster), C Casey (Munster), C Frawley (Leinster), T O’Brien (Leinster).The matches between both teams have been very close in recent times and there is a great familiarity and respect on both sides. We know their strengths and our goal is to offer the best version of ourselves to put ourselves in a position that allows us to obtain the performance we want. Supported by thousands of Irish fans who travel from all over the world every time we play at Twickenham, it will be another special occasion and a challenge that we are excited to face.
Andy Farrell, Coach
